


The Overdose

by UniversalMasquerade



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst, Bipolar Disorder, Fighting, Multi, Suicide Attempt, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-04 04:17:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1765159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniversalMasquerade/pseuds/UniversalMasquerade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fiona got a call at 2 in the morning, proclaiming that one of her worst fears had come to life. Ian made an attempt on his own life after 2 weeks of being at the Milkoviches. An ongoing debate ensues: Who's to blame?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Overdose

Fiona got the call from Mandy at 2 in the morning.

" _Ian's in the hospital.._ " the voice quivered. Fiona felt an ache in her chest, and it suddenly became difficult to breathe. She didn't bother asking why, she already had a hunch.

"Be there in ten minutes." She hung up and launched herself out of bed.

Her hunch was unfortunately spot on. The Gallagher clan were told the news when they all gathered into the waiting room. He didn't do it like their mother had, instead, he managed to get a hold of a bottle of sleeping pills and drank them down with beer. Mickey was asleep on the couch when Mandy screamed for him to wake up, that Ian locked himself in the bathroom and wasn't responding. After messing with the knob, resulting in failure, Mickey busted it off and charged his way into the bathroom. Ian was barely conscious on the floor.

" _Call 911!_ "

Mandy grabbed her cell phone and spoke into it rapidly, pacing back and forth as Mickey tried to get Ian to puke. Svetlana stood in the doorway, covering her mouth with her hand in shock until the noise awoke Yevgeny and she left reluctantly to calm her son. The ambulance arrived, but it felt as if it took eons to pull up to the house.

Mandy was the one informing the Gallaghers of what occurred. Mickey was sitting down across the room with his head in his hands. Before Ian's family came, Mandy kept repeating to her brother that it wasn't his fault. He took one of the pills, by Mandy's request, because he hadn't been sleeping well since Ian hit his low. Little did Mickey know that Mandy wasn't sleeping either, restlessly staring at the ceiling of her bedroom every night while Kenyatta snored next to her, worrying and worrying. She took a pill, and in a state of forgetfullnes, forgetting to put it back in the place they've chosen to hide the medicine. Ian must have found it sitting on the coffee table. He had to walk right in front of Mickey in order to get it. Her best friend was in the emergancy room because she forgot to hide the fucking pills, and she felt like shit. She kept all of this to herself, assuming it would make everything worse by sharing it.

Suddenly the elevator dinged, opened its doors, and Lip walked in.

"How is he?"

"We don't know." Fiona replied, her eyes watering. "..Overdose."

Lip moved passed his sister and went straight to Mickey, his fists clenched.

"You know that this is your fuckin' fault, right? You should have let us take care of it, you didn't know shit about it and now he could be dying from something that wouldn't have happened if you just let Fiona take him to the clinic! You're selfish, Milkovich! You just didn't want your fuck buddy to leave again, is that it?"

Mickey said nothing, not looking up to see Lip glaring down at him. His eyes were wet, but covered so no one could see. He couldn't defend himself, after all, he believed Lip was right. He hated himself more than he ever had before.

"Say something!" Lip shouted.

" _Lip_." Mandy grabbed him by the shoulder, but winced back when he turned around hostily. "Can I fucking talk to you for a minute?"

"It can wait!"

" _NOW_ , Lip." She pulled him by his arm, away from her miserable brother, and into the elevator. She pressed the buttom that would lead them to the ground floor. They stood in fuming silence as the elevator lowered and came to a halt. Mandy marched her way to the exit, leading them out into a poorly lit parking lot. Lip lit a cigarette as his hand trembled due to his anger. Mandy stood across from him, her arms folded.

"So what is it, Mandy, because my brother could be dying for all we fucking know and I'd really like to get ba-"

"Never talk to Mickey like that again."

"For Christsake, you dragged me out here to defend-"

"Shut up, Lip." He breathed out heavily, then gestured for her to continue with a bitter expression.

"Don't be talking about shit you don't know. You have no _fucking idea_ how we handled it. No fucking clue. Mickey dedicated every day to trying to help Ian. You're right, he didn't know anything about his disorder, so guess what? He fucking _learned!_ He stayed up all night reading about it, figuring out our options and how to deal with it. Maybe we should have taken him to the hospital before, but do you know how shitty some state mental hospitals are?

"We wanted him to be surrounded by people who loved him, not strangers who might not care enough to give him the help he needed! Say whatever the fuck you want to me, but never say that Mickey wasn't doing his best! The last thing he fucking needed was you telling him of all the things that went wrong. So back. The fuck. Off."

Lip's had a change of countenance, more despondent than angry.

"..Who left the pills out?" He asked.

"Me. I forgot to put them up. We were so careful and I blew it, okay? Don't look down on me Gallagher, you're no better than us Milkoviches, you hear me?" Now she was crying, but for once, she wasn't ashamed. She was too distracted to be ashamed.

"Just think that maybe, just maybe, if you discussed your concerns with Fiona about the hospital then all of this could have been prevented."

"Discuss our concerns with Fiona.." Mandy almost laughed. "And where were _you_ , Lip? The rest of his family came to see him - Debbie, Carl, Fiona.. But you? The brother he used to be so close with? Where were you?"

_Fuck._

Lip rubbed his temples, trying to keep himself from setting the nearest vehicle on fire. Mandy waited, tapping her foot, for Lip's excuse. He didn't know if there was any excusing that.

"..Before Ian had this.. Monica did. The shit she put us all through.. it was a fucking nightmare. She destroyed things, she put my siblings in danger, she and Frank fought all the time, and after that typhoon blows over she fucking leaves. I- I couldn't deal with it, is that what you want me to say? I couldn't deal with it. I didn't want to, not again. I already dealt with Fiona acting like Frank, I didn't want to put up with another Monica."

Mandy closed her eyes, wiping them with her sleeve.

"Look, I'm sorry about Monica. I'm sorry about your childhood. I'm sorry your family's genetics are so fucked up. But Ian is NOT Monica. He's Ian, and it's not his fault that he has this. Ian needs you. He needs everyone right now to be there for him, because he feels like shit and he should have people at his side. ..If he lives through this, I mean.."

Her subtle crying morphed into sobbing at that thought. She crouched onto the ground and wailed without the energy to care about being looked down on for it. Mandy couldn't get the picture of Ian out of her head, on a cold metal table, lifeless. Never being able to smile and laugh and tell stupid jokes ever again. One of the most important, and most loving, people in _her_ life could be dying - and dying because he was miserable. A good person leaving the world in anguish..

"Oh my god.."

"Hey." Lip was beside her now. Tears ran down his face too, but he had a lot more composure than she did. He offered her his hand. "We don't know that yet. Let's go back."

So they did. The whole lot was sitting in chairs when they returned, glaring at the emergency room doors waiting impatiently for them to open. Fiona was next to Mickey, cautiously rubbing his shoulder while Debbie held onto her arm, sniffling into a tissue. Carl stared off into nothing, as if he wasn't even there. Svetlana was on the other side of Mickey with Yevgeny in her arms. Kev and Vee also joined, each of them holding a baby and had a fixed expression of concern plastered on their faces. "Gallagher?" Everyone jumped up at once. Mickey and Fiona raced to the front of the crowd where the doctor stood.

"How is he?" They both said.

"We had to pump his stomach, but he's in stable condition. You'll be able to go see him shortly, but for now we're going to need him to rest."

"Oh, thank God." Kev sighed in relief. The doctor smiled, glad to give them the good news.

"Miss Gallagher, you're his legal guardian, yes?"

"Yes." Fiona said.

"We'll need to discuss a few things with you, can you follow me please?"

"Uh, first can I ask a question? Can Mickey go visit him with the rest of the family?"

"Is he a relative?"

"No, but - "

"It's against our policy.." she began. "We'll talk about it as we finish other matters." Fiona followed the woman in mint green scrubs, but not before looking at Mickey, as if to say _We'll figure this out. You're his family too._ Mandy gave Mickey a hug, something they rarely do, and Fiona's reassurance gave Mickey the strength to hug back.


End file.
